Twitches in Happy Valley Replaced by Broad Smiles

By JOE LAPOINTE

Published: September 16, 2002

STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Sept. 15 — Jimmy Kennedy, a fifth-year senior from Yonkers who plays defensive tackle for Penn State, was an underclassman in 1999 when his team last contended for a national championship. He also endured the losing seasons of 2000 and 2001, when the Nittany Lions were irrelevant to the national rankings and even to the championship chase in the Big Ten Conference.

So after his team shocked Nebraska by 40-7 on Saturday night in Beaver Stadium to raise its record to 2-0, Kennedy could speak from perspective. It is not the long view of Joe Paterno, a staff member since 1950 and head coach since 1966. But in terms of modern college football, where some sophomores turn professional in the springtime, Kennedy is a veteran who has been around for a long time. "It's a different team; it's a different confidence here," he said. "The swagger is back. Penn State is back."

The victory elevated the Nittany Lions from unranked in the Associated Press poll to No. 15. After seasons of 5-7 and 5-6, they have a chance to go to 3-0 next Saturday when they play host to Louisiana Tech. They open their conference schedule on Sept. 28 at home against Iowa.

Kennedy was credited with two solo tackles and two assists Saturday night as the Lions held the Cornhuskers to 328 net yards and their lowest point total since a 19-0 defeat to Arizona State on Sept. 21, 1996. Jammal Lord, a first-year starter at quarterback for Nebraska, fumbled on the first snap of the game and threw three interceptions, including one that was run back for 42 yards by Rich Gardner. It was the decisive play of the game, giving the Lions a 26-7 lead late in the third quarter.

"I hurt the team more than I helped," said Lord, who ran for 111 yards on 14 carries but completed only 8 of 16 passes for 76 yards. "But, hey, great teams bounce back."

It remains to be seen whether Nebraska is a great team. Despite winning its first three games against lesser foes at home, the Cornhuskers lost their third consecutive game on the road, including the national championship in the Rose Bowl to Miami last January and the regular-season finale to Colorado last November.

Frank Solich, the Nebraska coach, was asked how he expected Lord to respond to the defeat. "He doesn't have much choice," Solich said. "He's a very competitive person and he's a much better quarterback than the way he played today. And we're a much better team than the way we played."

While Nebraska had problems at quarterback, Penn State was successful with two of them. The one taking center snaps was the redshirt sophomore Zack Mills, who completed 19 of 31 passes for 259 yards and seemed to confuse the Husker defenders with shotgun formations, play-action passes and reverse sweeps. The other quarterback, the redshirt freshman Michael Robinson, did not throw passes. But he scored two touchdowns on running plays after lining up as a wide receiver, a fullback and a tailback.

"I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would score two touchdowns," Robinson said. "It feels great. I kind of had a feeling that I would come as a surprise at the Nebraska game."

Robinson, 6 foot 3 and 228 pounds, has the kind of raw ability that makes teammates and coaches gush with praise. Mills called Robinson too good an athlete to be sitting on the bench.

Several Lions used the term swagger to describe themselves so much that Paterno warned them about it. "I think it's good for everyone to show that much swagger," Gardner said. "But it's not good for Coach, so it's not good for anyone."

The Huskers had different problems. Dahrran Diedrick, the running back, said of the nationally televised embarrassment, "It hurts my manhood, especially when you know you just went out and got killed."

Their trip was miserable from the start, when mechanical problems delayed their charter flight for four hours and canceled their walk-through practice on Friday. When their bus caravan tried to leave the stadium late Saturday night, the path was blocked by a large trash can. So Solich and one of his assistants left their seats, stepped out the bus door, moved the refuse out of the way and climbed back aboard for the start of a long trip home to prepare for another road game, at Iowa State, on Sept. 28.

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